Autonomy support and achievement goals as predictors of perceived school performance and life satisfaction in the transition between lower and upper secondary school

• Published in: Social psychology of education 2014-06, Vol.17 (2), p.269-291
• Main Authors: Diseth, Åge, Samdal, Oddrun
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Academic Achievement; Achievement Need; Education; Foreign Countries; Gender Differences; Goal Orientation; Grade 10; Life Satisfaction; Mastery Learning; Motivation; Norway; Perceptions; Personal Autonomy; Personal development; Personality and Social Psychology; Prediction; Secondary Education; Secondary School Students; Secondary schools; Self Determination; Sociology of Education; Student Motivation; Students; Surveys; Teacher Student Relationship; Teachers; Well Being
• ISSN: 1381-2890; 1573-1928
• DOI: 10.1007/s11218-013-9244-4

A self-determination theory perspective on motivation assumes that basic need support is a prerequisite for motivation, achievement, and well-being in several domains of life. In the present cross-sectional study, a representative sample of 2.594 Norwegian students in their final year of lower secondary education and their first year of upper secondary education responded to a survey measuring the students’ perceptions of their teachers’ autonomy support, the students’ personal achievement goals, perceived school performance, and life satisfaction. The purpose was to investigate the structural relation between these variables, as well as grade level and gender differences. The results showed that all achievement goals (mastery, performance approach and performance avoidance) were positively predicted by autonomy support. Perceived school performance and life satisfaction were predicted by autonomy support and achievement goals, but there were some grade and gender specific relations. Furthermore, students in their first year of upper secondary education had a higher mean level of all motivational variables. Finally, mastery goals were more important for girls than boys, whereas performance goals were more important for boys than girls. In conclusion, both academic achievement (perceived school performance) and life satisfaction may be considered as important indicators of adjustment to life, and they are related to the students’ perception of teachers’ autonomy support as well as the students’ own motivation for learning. However, the mean level of these variables is partly accounted for by grade level and gender.